Norfolk Southern Corporation’s NSC fourth-quarter 2021 earnings of $3.12 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04. Moreover, the bottom line improved 18.2% year over year despite supply-chain disruptions.Railway operating revenues in the quarter under review came in at $2,852 million, outperforming the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,789.9 million. The top line increased 10.8% year over year with all key segments, merchandise, intermodal and coal registering an improvement in revenues. Revenue per unit rose 15% year over year. Total volumes declined 4% year over year due to supply-chain crisis among other factors.Norfolk Southern Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Norfolk Southern Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Norfolk Southern Corporation QuoteIncome from railway operations climbed 15% year over year to $1.1 billion. Railway operating expenses shot up 8% on a year-over-year basis to $1.7 billion, primarily due to higher expenses on fuel and purchased services. Norfolk Southern’s operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) improved to 60.4% in the fourth quarter from 61.8% in the year-ago quarter owing to higher revenues. With respect to this metric, lower the value, the better.Segmental PerformanceCoal revenues totaled $350 million, up 21% year over year. Coal volumes rose 4%. Revenue per unit jumped 16% in the reported quarter.Merchandise revenues climbed 8% year over year to $1,671 million. Volumes grew 2% while revenue per unit bumped up 6% year over year.Intermodal revenues augmented 14% year over year to $831 million. While segmental volumes decreased 7%, revenue per unit ascended 23%.Liquidity, Dividends & Share BuybackThis currently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) player exited 2021 with cash and cash equivalents of $839 million compared with $1,115 million at the end of 2020. Norfolk Southern had long-term debt of $13,287 million at the end of 2021 compared with $12,102 million at December 2020-end.In 2021, Norfolk Southern paid dividends worth $1,028 million, up 7.1% year over year. NSC repurchased and retired common stock worth $3,390 million in 2021 compared with $1,439 million a year ago.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Sectorial SnapshotsWithin the broader Transportationsector, J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT, United Airlines UAL and Delta Air Lines DAL recently reported fourth-quarter 2021 results.J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported fourth-quarter 2021 earnings of $2.28 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.99. The bottom line surged 58.3% year over year on the back of higher revenues across all segments.JBHT’s operating revenues of $3,497 million also outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,287.8 million. The top line jumped 27.7% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, rose 21.7% year over year.United Airlines incurred a loss (excluding 39 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.60 per share in the fourth quarter of 2021, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.23. The amount of loss narrowed by 77.1% year over year.UAL’s operating revenues of $8,192 million also outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,930.9 million. The top line surged more than 100% year over year, with passenger revenues, which accounted for 84% of the top line, soaring 185.4% to $6,878 million.Delta reported fourth-quarter 2021 earnings (excluding 86 cents from non-recurring items) of 22 cents per share, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 15 cents. Earnings came against the year-ago quarter’s loss of $2.53 per share. Strong holiday travel demand and favorable pricing aided the December quarter’s results.DAL’s revenues came in at $9,470 million, which not only beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9,232.1 million but also soared more than 100% from the year-ago figure as people resorted to air travel during the holidays. Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double" From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all. As one investor put it, “curing and preventing hundreds of diseases…what should that market be worth?” This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC): Free Stock Analysis Report Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research